Keswick Film Club - Capturing the Friedmans

Synopsis

In 1984, Arnold Friedman, award-winning school-teacher and jovial patriarch, was found to be receiving child pornography in the mail. Within days, Arnold, along with his 19-year-old son Jesse, was accused of multiple counts of sexual abuse towards local children, whom he had tutored.

This gregarious family were also habitual home-video freaks, documenting every aspect of their lives, performing sketches and routines. The accusations and eventual trial did nothing to stop this impulse, even during the subsequent family breakdown.

Nothing is black-and-white in this devastating tale not only of a family in tatters but of the flaws inherent in the American legal system. The end result will leave you emotionally shattered and highly moved. As the tagline says "Who do you believe?"

Grand Jury Prize - 2003 Sundance Film Festival